The present invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel. The invention is particularly directed to a vehicle steering wheel having a leather wrapping that adjoins wood trim on the steering wheel.
It is common for the armature of a vehicle steering wheel to be wrapped in leather or a leather-like material. It is also common, particularly in luxury vehicles, to affix decorative wood trim to portions of the armature. Typically, the leather wrap adjoins the wood trim and a joint is formed where an end portion of the leather wrap meets an end portion of the wood trim. The joint is formed by tucking the end portion of the leather wrap into a thin, radially extending slit in the end portion of the wood trim.
The aforementioned joint can cause the manufacture of the steering wheel to be labor intensive. The manufacturing processes of cutting the wood trim, masking the steering wheel to stain and lacquer the wood trim, and subsequently removing the masking from the steering wheel can take significant amounts of time to complete when dealing with the thin slit in the wood trim. In addition, using the aforementioned joint, the leather wrap can have a tendency to come loose from the slit in the wood trim.
The present invention is a vehicle steering wheel comprising a steering wheel armature having adjoining first and second portions and a decorative layer covering the first portion of the armature. The decorative layer has an annular groove. A band is disposed in the groove in the decorative layer. A wrapable material covers the second portion of the armature. The wrapable material includes an end portion folded around the band and disposed in the groove to form a junction of the wrapable material and the decorative layer.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the decorative layer is made of wood and the wrapable material is leather.
The vehicle steering wheel further comprises a plastic layer covering the second portion of the armature and disposed underneath the wrapable material. A foam layer covers the plastic layer and is disposed underneath the wrapable material.